Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Is it time for a return to photo radar in the Province of Ontario?

When it comes to driving on city streets and highways I am always amazed with what I see. Now the one thing I see most frequently is people driving at high rates of speed down city streets. It seems as if they don’t understand the dangers that are involved with driving this way. Just the other day a young man in a red Honda Prelude flew past me like I was standing still weaving in and out of traffic as if the roadway was his own personal race track. All it takes is one mistake a person crossing the street or another driver changing lanes without indicating and the outcome would have been tragic. In recent weeks here in the Province of Ontario local news casts have been filled with stories of drivers and passengers who have been killed in accidents where speed was a contributing factor. Just last week a story about a motorcyclist weaving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed in a YouTube video gained the attention of the media and eventually the police. It seems as if some drivers just don’t get it. When it comes down to it this kind of driving needs to brought to an end and a reintroduction of photo radar in the Province of Ontario might just be the key.

In recent months my whole attitude towards speeding on city streets has changed. This occurred late last year after my friends and I witnessed a fatal accident which ended up taking the life of a young man only 18 years of age. To make a long story short two young drivers were street racing when one of them lost control hitting a cement barrier. Many of us already know at high speeds even the littlest mistake can result in tragedy as our city streets and highways leave no room for mistakes. If you are a motor sports fan you know even on the race track tragedy can’t always be avoided. When it comes to race tracks they have many safety features including safer barriers and run off sections while our city streets aren’t always so forgiving. As we all know our city streets were created to be driven on a certain speeds and once we exceed those set limits the risk of being involved in an accident goes way up. Sure these days vehicle manufactures are producing some of the safest cars we’ve ever seen but that doesn’t always guarantee that we will be able survive a wreck at high speeds. There is really one solution to the problem and that’s for everyone to start driving responsibly by obeying posted speed limits. But the reality is that no matter what we do there will always be those who aim to push the limits of their vehicles putting us all at risk. I wonder how many more lives need to be lost before these drivers realize what they are doing is putting innocent people at risk. How many more stories do we need to hear about someone’s daughter, son or family member getting killed on our city streets? The time is now for more people to take driving a little bit more seriously but the facts are there will always be a few people who have to ruin it for everyone. So for the safety of everyone on our roads and after recent events I believe it might just be a time for a return to photo radar in the Province of Ontario.